² But who can endure^(A) the day of his coming?^(B) Who can stand^(C) when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire^(D) or a launderer’s soap.^{(E) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;^(F) he will purify^(G) the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.^(H) Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,^{(I) 4} and the offerings^(J) of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.^(K)

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶ “I the Lord do not change.^(A) So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.^{(B) 7} Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away^(C) from my decrees and have not kept them. Return^(D) to me, and I will return to you,”^(E) says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask,^(F) ‘How are we to return?’

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob^(G) God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes^(H) and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse^(I)—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe^(J) into the storehouse,^(K) that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates^(L) of heaven and pour out^(M) so much blessing^(N) that there will not be room enough to store it.^{(O) 11} I will prevent pests from devouring^(P) your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,^(Q)” says the Lord Almighty. ¹² “Then all the nations will call you blessed,^(R) for yours will be a delightful land,”^(S) says the Lord Almighty.^(T)

Psalm 148

The Apostles Heal Many

¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders^(A) among the people. And all the believers used to meet together^(B) in Solomon’s Colonnade.^{(C) 13} No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.^{(D) 14} Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.^{(E) 15} As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.^{(F) 16} Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.^(G)